Can a Pasta Party Fix Everything?
by BuffyReid
Summary: This is my take on what was missing from the episode, "Proof".  It takes place after the team gets back from the case up to the pasta party.  No romance.
1. JJ

**Main Characters: **Spencer Reid, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau

**Pairings: **None

**Spoilers: '**Proof', as well as references to events and comments from 'It Takes a Village', season 6, and season 2 (see warnings).

**Warnings: **References related to drug addiction and drug use.

**Disclaimers: **I do not own Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds and its characters are the property of CBS.

**A/N: **

-_I've heard and read about many people's perceptions of Reid and JJ based on their behavior in Proof. Many people took sides, including myself. I waited months to write this in order to gain the distance necessary to try to write both characters as fairly as possible and I hope I've succeeded in that. The first 2 chapters of this fanfic really focus on putting the reader into JJ and Reid's heads in order to get a look at where each of them was coming from and fill in some background on what may have happened off-screen, based on comments that were made and events which have been alluded to in some way. The payoff for this will hopefully begin in chapter 3, so if you tend to get bored reading about people's thoughts and such, please know that it's building up to something more, so I hope you'll give it a chance._

-Though reviews are appreciated, no flames please.

-No Beta was employed for this fanfic. If you notice any glaring mistakes, feel free to let me know.

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><p><em>What have I done? How could I have been so stupid?<em> JJ thought.

The team had gotten back from their case in Oklahoma 3 hours ago. JJ was home now and all she wanted to do was relax, but that wasn't about to happen. It wasn't because she had to cook dinner or clean the house or take care of Henry. Will knew how exhausted she usually was after she got back from a case, so he had the house already cleaned and he had cooked them a wonderful dinner, even if she hadn't been in the mood to truly appreciate it. Though she hadn't told him about what happened between her and Reid, she knew he could sense that something was wrong. That's why he'd suggested that she go take a relaxing bath while he put Henry to bed. After giving Henry a kiss goodnight, that's exactly what she'd gone to do.

So, here she sat in a nice, hot bubble bath and relaxation was the furthest thing from her mind. Even before this case, she'd known Reid was angry. He'd been giving her the cold shoulder, had barely been able to so much as look at her, for weeks. Still, she hadn't fully realized…no, she hadn't _allowed_ herself to realize just how angry, how hurt, he'd really been. She hadn't known how to approach him and she'd thought it would blow over. That's what Hotch and Emily had seemed to think. "Give him time," and "Let it go," they'd said. Obviously that hadn't worked and, despite her prior concerns, she'd never expected things to get this bad. Now she couldn't stop replaying events from the last few months and the last few days in her mind, each event triggering thoughts of another and always circling back to the confrontation between her and Reid in the police station the day before.

She knew she'd been defensive. Reid had been hurling one snide remark after another at her all day and he'd refused to talk about what was driving them. She couldn't stand it anymore, so she'd decided to approach him again at the station. This time, when he'd shut her down yet again, her frustration had finally bubbled over and that's what had done it. That's what had caused her to say things she didn't really believe. I mean, had she really thought that this was all because he hadn't been able to pick up on her and Hotch's deception? She knew Reid better than that. She knew he was hurt, but she just couldn't think rationally at that moment.

It had stung when Reid called her "Jennifer." When he'd mentioned coming to her home all those weeks after Emily had "died", it felt like a knife to the heart. It had killed her inside to see him suffer like that and not be able to do anything about it, but she couldn't. Not only was she under orders, but Emily's safety and the team's safety had depended on her silence. She'd never imagined that he'd considered using dilaudid again and the guilt over the fact that he'd actually considered it, maybe even come close to relapsing, now felt all consuming.

_Is it possible that he's still thinking about it, craving it?_

He'd been in so much pain and he obviously still was. What hurt JJ the most, though, the thing that she kept hearing over and over again, the thing that made her entire body go cold, was Reid's response when she'd finally spoken the words,

"Spence…I'm sorry."

"It's too late," he'd declared.

"It's too late," she heard reverberating through her mind once again. Had she truly lost Reid, one of her very best friends, her son's godfather?

"Babe, what's wrong?" Will asked as he entered the bathroom and knelt at JJ's side by the bathtub, slipping one arm behind her back. It was then that she realized her face wasn't just wet from the now lukewarm bath, but that she was crying. More than that, she was quietly sobbing.

"Will, I really messed up. I don't know what to do," she choked out in a trembling voice as she leaned her head against his chest.

"Shh, it'll be alright, cher. Come on, let's get you out of here before you freeze, then you can tell me all about it."

She nodded her head in agreement and let him guide her out of the tub.

JJ and Will talked until past 1am. Will always had a way of calming her and helping her put things in perspective in those rare instances when she couldn't quite work through something on her own. Though she was still frightened of what the future held between her and Reid when she drifted off to sleep, she did so with some small sense of hope that maybe, _maybe_ she could make things right. When she got up the next day, it would be her goal to do just that.


	2. Reid

**For Warnings and Disclaimers, see chapter 1.**

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><p>Reid was torn. He was confused. He was hurt and angry and felt like he was being pulled in a million directions at once. He felt like he'd been on the rollercoaster ride from hell for nearly a year now: JJ leaving the team, headaches and insomnia with no discernable cause, Emily's…"death", grief, cravings, problems with his mom, finding out Emily was alive, and finding out that he'd been deceived for months by nearly every member of the team. What happened yesterday with JJ during the case, well that was just the icing on the cake. The guilt trip from Emily? Maybe that was the candles.<p>

It was too much. Reid still couldn't sleep well at least 4 nights a week on average. He still had headaches that lasted for days at least 3 times a month, often more, though he didn't talk to anyone about them anymore. His cravings had resurfaced months ago, when the headaches had begun, but they'd been firmly under his control at first. Thoughts of easing the pain and getting sleep were there, but they were far outweighed by the potential consequences of relapsing. Instead, Reid had started going to Beltway Clean Cops meetings again.

When he thought Emily had died, the cravings intensified. He couldn't find the motivation or energy to go to the BCC meetings and had, instead, sought comfort in JJ. There were a lot of things he could turn to Morgan for, but letting go and allowing himself to just breakdown and be completely open and vulnerable with his emotions, just wasn't something he thought he could do in front of Morgan, alpha male and all-around tough guy. Besides, though Reid knew that Morgan wouldn't really judge him, he also knew that Morgan was having a really hard time dealing with Emily's death, too, and he couldn't bring himself to add to Morgan's burden.

The cravings, though, that was something he couldn't bring himself to admit to JJ, Morgan, or anyone else on the team. Grief was normal and to be expected, but the desire to use dilaudid again would send everyone into panic mode. They'd be watching his every move, coddling him, and questioning if he was fit for duty. Reid _needed_ to work. He needed to have something to focus his mind on, something to distract him from the physical pain, the emotional pain, and the cravings. The cravings had grown and were severe enough, at times, that if he had too much time to think, his mind used the time to imagine what it would feel like to find that escape again, to think of ways he could get away with using and still do his job, to think of the safest way to obtain his drug of choice. No, having too much time to think was not a good thing at all. He _had_ to work. So, he kept his cravings to himself and added going to the firing range, every free minute he had, to his list of ways to cope with everything he was thinking and feeling.

Just when Reid had begun to think that things couldn't get any worse, he'd gotten the call from Bennington and been told about the problems with his mom. He'd been torn. The team had already been short-staffed since Emily died. Then, Ashley had transferred and Hotch had been reassigned to take over some of Strauss's duties while she was on leave. Thankfully, JJ had decided to undergo the additional training to become a profiler as a means of coming back to the team. She would be rejoining the team by the end of that week. Reid had been relieved, but he was feeling too down and stressed to be as happy about it as he thought he should, and they'd still be undermanned if he left to tend to matters with his mother. For 2 weeks, he'd tried to manage the situation with his mother by phone. JJ had come back and Reid realized that he really needed to be there for his mom, so he'd taken a sabbatical from the BAU.

Knowing the team needed him, however, he returned as soon as his mom was somewhat stabilized. Still, he continued to worry about her and kept in close contact with her doctors on a daily basis. His cravings were worse than ever, with the added stress of worrying about his mom, but knowing that he was needed by her and by the team helped him to maintain his sobriety. He couldn't let them down, his family.

Reid had thought things were finally getting better, beginning to calm a bit, when all hell broke loose. Over the span of just a few days Reid learned that Morgan and Garcia had left him out of the loop during their investigation into Doyle and the location of Declan, that Emily was alive, and that JJ and Hotch had been lying to the team about it since the day she "died." Reid felt like his entire world was crumbling around him. The people he trusted and depended on most, those that he'd thought of as family, had betrayed him. Of course he was immeasurably happy that Emily was alive. How could he not be? But how could those closest to him deceive him this way? Did Morgan and Garcia think his assistance in their investigation would have been worthless? That he didn't have a vested interest in the outcome? Or did they think they couldn't trust him?

Perhaps trust was the issue. Hotch and JJ had apparently come to the conclusion that the team couldn't be trusted with the truth about Emily. How can you put your trust in people who don't demonstrate the same trust in you, especially given the fact that, for Spencer Reid, trust isn't easily built in the first place?

Despite what others may have thought, Reid was never angry with Emily. She hadn't been the one to make the decision to fake her death and he was too relieved that she was alive to hold any real malice toward her. That didn't mean it was entirely easy to be near her. She was a constant reminder of everything that had happened within the team over the last few months and the feelings Reid associated with that. He was also still trying to process and come to terms with the fact that she was really there again, whole and healthy, and that for all those months he'd visited an empty grave and grieved for a friend who wasn't truly lost.

Though he knew that Rossi had suspected Emily was alive, the fact that he hadn't know for sure, nor did he know about Morgan and Garcia's clandestine investigation, meant that he was the only member of the team who hadn't outright lied during the time Emily was gone. Unfortunately, though he liked and cared for Rossi, he was also the member of the team that Reid felt the least connected to.

Reid was still angry with Hotch for his decision to fake Emily's death and hide it from the team, but it was getting easier, as the days passed, to put himself in Hotch's shoes and understand that he was protecting Emily, who had come so close to actually dying. Reid was beginning to accept that, in Hotch's role as the leader of their team, he's forced to make decisions based on the welfare of the team and not on his or their emotions.

Reid had been able to forgive Garcia fairly quickly. He knew that she'd wanted to tell the rest of the team what she and Morgan had been up to, Morgan had said as much, but she had gone along with Morgan's wishes. It's hard to stay angry with Garcia, who wears her heart on her sleeve and would do almost anything to make others happy.

Forgiving Morgan was proving more difficult and Reid still hadn't fully managed it. He knew that Morgan didn't want to get the rest of the team's hopes up, nor did he want anyone else to get in trouble for taking part in something that wasn't authorized. Reid was trying to come to terms with that reasoning. It also helped that Reid knew Morgan had been hurt as much as he had by the deception about Emily. Morgan had held her, bloodied, in his hands and he'd blamed himself for not being there soon enough to save her. Furthermore, the hard feelings Reid held toward Morgan were simply eclipsed by those he held toward JJ.

There was a part of Reid that believed JJ when she said that she couldn't tell him the truth, or at least believed that's how she saw it. There was a part of him that knew it must have been a difficult secret to keep. The problem was that there was another part of him, the part that had lived in agony for months, the part that only she had fully seen, and Reid couldn't begin to understand how JJ could let him suffer so much if she genuinely cared about him. It seemed that all of the pain and anger he had toward the team was focused on her because she was the one he'd gone to and trusted so utterly and completely and bared his soul to. All of that had now been thrown back in his face in the worst possible way. How could he not be hurt? How could he ever trust another word she ever said if she could see him in so much pain and still lie right to his face? Reid couldn't help but question if he'd ever really known her. He'd thought of her as compassionate, trustworthy, and kind, but when he'd needed her most, she'd only pretended to be those things when she could have taken that pain away even more surely than dilaudid ever could have.

The secret Reid would never share was that, the night Emily came back and Doyle was killed, he'd driven around for hours trying to convince himself that all that mattered was that Emily was alive and that he should go home. The truth of it was, though, Reid had felt like he was dying inside, that the family he thought he finally had was just another lie. The reason he wasn't going home was because he kept driving by the place he knew to be the safest option for him to obtain the vials of precious, clear liquid he wanted more at that moment than at any time since he'd gotten clean and made it through the worst of the post-Hankel aftermath. The truth is, Reid didn't go home. He gave into temptation and bought 2 bottles of dilaudid and a sealed box of new syringes. When he'd finally arrived home, Reid had quickly begun making the preparations to administer the relief he'd so long denied himself, but with the belt around his arm and the needle poised to enter, he couldn't do it. He'd tossed the needle to the corner of the bathroom, picked up one of the vials and smashed it against the wall, then slumped down onto the floor in tears. Some time later, once he was emotionally spent, he forced himself up from the floor and emptied the remaining vial and needle into the sink. He cleaned up the mess from the smashed vial, placed everything into the trash, and took it all to the dump outside, wanting to get it as far from himself as possible. He'd never imagined that he would mention the fact that he'd even _thought_ of using dilaudid to JJ or anyone else. Saying what he did in that station had happened in a moment of anger and, yes, a desire to hurt JJ as she had hurt him. Still, he would never let anyone know how close he'd come to falling over the edge or how much he had continued to fight the urge to use every day since.

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><p><strong>AN**: _When I began writing this chapter, I had no intention of discussing Reid's cravings to the extent that I did, but that's what came out. I guess I've wondered how serious Reid's thoughts of using dilaudid were, if he came close to relapsing, and how close, if so. When I wrote this, my mind apparently decided on one possible answer._

_For anyone confused or frustrated by the vague references to what's going on with Reid's mom, I'm right there with you. They made vague comments in 'It Takes A Village' and 'Proof', but have yet to explain them. I chose to leave it vague so that what I wrote would be less likely to conflict with this storyline if it is picked up on the show again in the future._


	3. Can we talk?

**For Warnings and Disclaimers, see chapter 1.**

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><p>It was the next day and JJ was now standing outside of Reid's apartment door. When she woke up that morning, she felt somewhat better than the night before. She had talked through things with Will and even discussed different ways she could try to approach Reid. Now that she was here, though, she felt completely unprepared. What if he just slammed the door in her face, this time literally?<p>

Finally, she took a deep breath and knocked. After a moment, she could hear the sound of approaching footsteps. She took one more calming breath. The door opened and Reid just stared at her. His expression registered no surprise, no anger, no…anything. His face was completely devoid of emotion and JJ didn't know how she should feel about that.

"Hey, Spence," JJ greeted awkwardly.

He just continued to look at her. Though all JJ could see was his seemingly emotionless countenance, Reid felt anything but emotionless on the inside. What he was feeling, he couldn't identify. Anger, anxiety, frustration, sadness, relief? How about all of the above?

"Spence, please, I'd really like to talk. Could I come in?" JJ asked very softly, letting every bit of her caring for him and her desire to set things right show through in her expression as much as possible.

After what felt like several more long moments, Reid stepped away from the door, allowing JJ the space to enter. After she came in, he closed the door and then walked passed her to the couch where he sat, directing his gaze toward the coffee table in front of him.

JJ paused once inside the door, not sure how to proceed. Once Reid had settled himself on the couch, she briefly debated about whether to join him there or sit further away in a nearby chair, but ultimately opted for the couch. Being closer seemed more appropriate for such a personal conversation. She was disappointed that Reid seemed to be avoiding eye contact now, and that he had yet to utter one word, but at least she'd gotten this far.

"Spence…" she faltered. _God, why does this have to be so hard! _"Spence," she began again, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the way everything has happened. I didn't really mean the things I said the other day. I was just…I was frustrated because…" JJ sighed. She didn't want to make it seem like she was blaming him for the things she'd said, even if his actions had played their part.

"I was upset, Spence. I couldn't stand the way things were between us and I said things I didn't mean. I know you're hurt and angry and that you have every right to be, but _please_, Spence," she pleaded, "you have to know that's never what I wanted. I care about you so much. You're one of my very best friends. You know that, right?"

He didn't answer and his eyes remained fixed on the coffee table. When she could see that he wasn't going to respond, she took another deep breath and continued.

"I lied to you and the team because I honestly believed it was what I had to do to keep all of us safe. It killed me to tell all of you that Emily was dead, to see how much it hurt everyone…you," JJ's voice began to shake with emotion, "and then to see what it did to you in the months after… You can't possibly know how much I wanted to tell you the truth, but all I could do was be there for you and I tried to be. Maybe I should have considered the possibility that you might use again, but I didn't. I guess I wanted to believe you were past that. I know addiction doesn't work that way, but I… I didn't know, but I'm so glad that you didn't give into it, that you stayed strong."

A cold, bitter half-laugh was the first thing JJ heard escape Reid's lips and it felt like ice water rushing through her veins. What did it mean? Before she could decide whether to ask, Reid spoke.

"Why couldn't you trust me?" Reid asked sadly. "What did you think I would do if you told me the truth?"

JJ felt a small relief. Reid was finally talking. She thought seriously about his question and how to best answer it.

"Spence, Doyle was still out there. We didn't know if his men would be keeping tabs on us, like they'd done before. The team needed to appear to be grieving for Emily, without question. If I'd told you, would you have been able to keep the secret from Morgan or Garcia while they continued to grieve? The more members of the team who knew, the more likely it would have been that someone could have picked up on a change in our behavior or demeanor, noticed that we seemed happier too suddenly or that we'd stopped visiting Emily's grave. None of us are actors, but we would have had to put on a charade 24/7. It would have been so easy for just one of us to slip up and do or say something that could have put all of us, including Emily, at risk. Spence, it wasn't about trusting you. Of course, I trust you. Hotch and I did what we thought we had to in order to keep us all safe. Please believe that."

Reid finally turned to face JJ. He didn't say anything; he just looked at her and she felt like he was trying to see into her very soul. She did everything in her power not to throw up her defenses, not to try to hide, but to let him see how sincere she was in everything she had just told him instead. At last, Reid turned away again.

"Spence, I understand that trust can't be rebuilt overnight. I know that one conversation won't fix everything, but…but could we just try? I miss you. I need you to still be a part of my life, to be my friend. I love you."

Reid listened as she spoke. He heard her words and knew they were heartfelt. He heard the way her voice shook and broke and knew, even before he looked, that she was on the verge of tears. He felt torn between the pain and distrust that still ached inside of him and the fact that he loved and missed JJ too. He looked up into her tear-filled, blue eyes and she saw the emotion on his face. She saw the sadness, but she could also see that what she was saying was making an impact.

"JJ, you're right," Reid began, "things can't go back to the way they were, at least not any time soon. Not with you and I. Not with the team. I don't know if I'll be able to trust you or Hotch or even Morgan again, at least not like I did before. It's one thing to trust you to have my back as my co-workers, but it's another to trust you as my friends. I thought of you guys as my family, but now…" he looked away and she felt her heart clench as his face crumpled, but he righted himself just as quickly. "Now, I don't know," he finished in a whisper.

In the moment Reid called her "JJ", she knew there was hope. In the moment he finally let his guard down enough for her to see his pain, she knew that she needed to mend things, not only because she needed him as her friend, but because he was hurting and, right now, he was cut off from those he should be able to turn to when he's suffering.

"We can take it slow, Spence. I'll give you space if that's what you want. I'll say I'm sorry everyday or have you over for dinner every weekend, whatever. I can't speak for anyone else, but just tell me that you _want_ to fix this and I'll do everything in my power to make you believe in me again."

Reid looked at her and said, "Of course, I want things to be better between us, JJ, but I can't promise anything. I can't even promise that I'm going to stay with the BAU. I'm still trying to work through all of this and I don't have any answers yet."

JJ had never considered that Reid might be thinking of leaving the unit. She fought the desire to react. He needed time, not pressure, but she couldn't imagine the BAU without him.

"I..I understand. I just hope that you'll give things a little time; give the team a chance to get back on track."

Reid gave JJ a small, forced smile. It was the best he could do and the most she could have hoped for in that moment.

"Um, well, I guess I should get going," JJ said uncertainly. When Reid didn't respond, JJ slowly stood.

"Are you going to Rossi's tonight?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, I really hope you can make it. Everyone would be really glad to have you there. I know I would," she stated sincerely.

Reid stood and they began to walk towards the door. Reid opened the door for JJ and said, "If I don't make it, I hope you all have fun." There was no joy in his voice, but he was trying.

"Okay, I'll see you soon," JJ said hopefully, but knowing that, even if she didn't see him at the party, she'd see him at work. "Good-bye, Spence."

"Bye," Reid whispered before quietly shutting the door.

As JJ began the walk down the stairs, away from Reid's apartment, she told herself that their talk had gone well. And it had gone much better than it potentially could have, but that didn't make her feel much better. Nothing was really resolved. Their good-bye had been awkward and there was still so much sadness in his eyes as he'd shut the door. It was a start, but things were far from over.


	4. Consideration

**For Warnings and Disclaimers, see chapter 1.**

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><p>The cooking lesson at Rossi's was supposed to start in just 20 minutes and here Reid sat. He was still at home, he still wasn't dressed to go out, and he still couldn't decide if he wanted to go, if he <em>could <em>go.

Reid thought about his conversation with JJ. He knew she was truly sorry and he'd meant it when he said he wanted things to be better between them. He wanted things to be better with the whole team.

He also thought about his conversation with Emily on the plane. Reid hadn't been thrilled with the guilt trip she'd laid on him. It hadn't been fair and had made him feel, once again, like he wasn't entitled to feel the way he did. It seemed everyone just expected him to get over it, just like that. He knew things must have been so hard for her over the past few months, recovering from her injuries without her friends or family, giving up her home and everything she had, and being so isolated. Still, thinking that your friend died because you hadn't put the pieces together quickly enough to save her wasn't the same thing as missing your friends who you knew were alive and well.

Regardless, he could see how tired she was, how desperate she was for everything to be okay for everyone, and he believed her when she said that the stress of the last few months had given her an ulcer. He didn't want to cause her more pain and he couldn't bring himself to feel more than irritation toward her for the things she'd said. She'd been through enough and he wanted her to be happy again.

The party would be staring about now. Would he continue to sit here with his thoughts spiraling through his mind in an endless loop or would he suck it up, slap the fake smile on his face everyone seemed to want, and join the 'fun'?

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><p><strong>AN:** _I know this was really short, but I just needed to give Reid some time to consider everything and make a decision. The good thing is, there's no waiting. Chapter 5 is ready and available for viewing. I hope you will enjoy it._


	5. Party Time

**For Warnings and Disclaimers, see chapter 1.**

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><p>Everyone had made it to Rossi's with the notable exception of Reid. It was a half hour past the time their get-together was scheduled to begin and JJ was giving up hope that he would come. She wasn't the only one. His absence was like the elephant in the room. Everyone was thinking about it. Everyone was worried or disappointed about the fact that he hadn't come, to one degree or another, but no one said anything. They all seemed determined to smile and act like everything was fine even though they knew it wasn't.<p>

The doorbell rang and Morgan volunteered to get it. Truth be told, though he was trying his best do deal with it, he was still pissed at Hotch and JJ. He was happy to get a minute away from the others so he could just drop the act for a moment. Besides, there was only one person it could really be and, knowing Reid was in a similar place, somehow made him feel like he was gaining an ally. Morgan opened the door to find a very uncomfortable looking Reid standing on the other side of the threshold.

"Come on in, man. Glad you made it."

Reid responded with what was obviously an attempt at a smile, but looked more like a pained grimace.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Morgan empathized.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"What's important is that you're here. The girls are gonna be thrilled."

Reid took a deep breath and nodded. Morgan turned to head back toward the kitchen and Reid followed, mentally psyching himself up to be the way everyone wanted him to be. Reid entered the kitchen, his body full of nervous tension.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, giving a little wave.

JJ glanced his way briefly, feeling relief and a flutter of happiness that he'd come after all.

Reid put on his best smile long enough to make eye contact with JJ, but as soon as she looked away, he felt it slipping. This really wasn't going to be easy, but he was here, so he would try his best to make this work.

Emily, too, was more than happy Reid had finally arrived, but she could see the tension Reid was doing his best to hide. She tried to take the focus off of his arrival by inquiring, "So when do we get to drink the wine?"

Rossi took it from there and tried to emphasize why they were all really there together as he said, "We're going to do this, altogether, just..like..a family."

They all toasted, everyone putting on their best happy face, but in that moment, it wasn't a total façade. They were all there, each trying to put the team, their family, back together. It wouldn't happen overnight because, no, a pasta party can't fix everything, but it was a start, and _that_ was something worth celebrating.

The End

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><p><strong>AN:** _ I hope you enjoyed it and weren't disappointed that there wasn't a perfect, happy ending with hugs all around. I've always felt that the 'pasta party fixes everything' ending was so horribly unrealistic. I opted to show that, while things were far from perfect, there was hope that things could be good again one day and that the whole team was on board to work toward mending what was broken and try to be a "family" again. _


End file.
